The best Minecraft plugins let you add ranks, permissions, crossplay, server protection, performance improvements, and entirely new gameplay systems without requiring every player to install mods. In this article, we are covering 13 of the best Minecraft plugins for Bukkit, Spigot, and Paper servers. Whether you are starting a small survival server for friends or building a large public server, there is something on this list that can help. Let's jump into it!
Best Minecraft Plugins for Bukkit, Spigot, and Paper Servers
EssentialsX
EssentialsX is one of the first plugins you should consider installing on a Bukkit, Spigot, or Paper server. It adds many of the basic commands and administrative tools that players expect a server to have. These include commands for homes, teleports, warps, private messages, kits, nicknames, and much more.
The main EssentialsX plugin handles the core commands. From there, you can install additional EssentialsX modules for features such as chat formatting, spawn management, Discord integration, and protection. You can also use EssentialsX with Vault and a compatible economy plugin to add player balances, payments, and server shops.
Nearly every part of EssentialsX can be adjusted through its configuration files and permissions. This makes it useful for everything from a private server where you only need /home to a public server with custom ranks, kits, warps, and an economy.
If you need help setting it up, we have a complete guide on how to install EssentialsX on a Minecraft server.
LuckPerms
If you want to control which commands and features players can access, you need a permissions plugin. LuckPerms is the best option for doing this on most Minecraft servers. It allows you to create groups, add players to those groups, and decide exactly which permissions each group receives.
For example, you could create default, VIP, moderator, and admin groups. The default group may only have access to basic commands, while VIP players receive additional homes and warps. Moderators can then receive the permissions needed to mute or kick players without getting complete access to the server.
LuckPerms also has a web editor that makes managing permissions much easier. Instead of editing long configuration files manually, you can change groups and permissions in your browser before applying those changes to the server. For a larger network, LuckPerms can also store permission data in a shared database.
CoreProtect
CoreProtect is a data logging and anti-griefing plugin that records what players do on your Minecraft server. If a player destroys a build, steals items, or places blocks somewhere they should not, CoreProtect gives you the tools needed to investigate what happened.
You can look up changes by player, time, location, block, and other filters. Once you find the damage, CoreProtect can roll it back without requiring you to restore the entire world from a backup. It can also restore a rollback if you accidentally undo the wrong changes.
This is useful even if you only run a server for friends. On a public server, however, CoreProtect is essential. No moderation team can watch every player at all times, and CoreProtect gives you a record to check when something goes wrong.
WorldEdit
WorldEdit lets you make large changes to a Minecraft world without placing or removing every block manually. Using selections and commands, you can copy and paste builds, replace one block with another, quickly create walls and shapes, and remove large areas.
It also supports schematics, allowing you to save a build and load it into another world or server. Brushes make it possible to shape terrain, paint blocks, and build natural-looking areas much faster than you could by hand.
WorldEdit is especially useful when creating a server spawn, arena, shop, or other custom area. However, it is also an extremely powerful plugin. You should use permissions to limit who can access its commands and make a backup before performing a large edit.
For a complete setup walkthrough, check out our guide on how to install WorldEdit on a Minecraft server.
Geyser
Normally, Minecraft: Java Edition and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition players cannot join the same server. Geyser acts as a bridge that allows Bedrock Edition players to connect to a Java Edition server. This can let players on Windows, mobile devices, and supported consoles play with Java Edition players.
Geyser translates the connection between Bedrock and Java Edition. It does not convert your server into a Bedrock server, and the server will still run Bukkit, Spigot, or Paper plugins. You can also use Floodgate with Geyser to let Bedrock players join without owning a Java Edition account.
There can be small differences between how certain mechanics work on each edition, but Geyser is still the best way to add Java and Bedrock crossplay to a plugin-based Minecraft server.
ViaVersion
When Minecraft updates, players often update their game before a server is ready to move to the new version. ViaVersion helps solve this by allowing players on newer versions of Minecraft: Java Edition to connect to servers running older supported versions.
This gives you more time to wait for Paper and your other plugins to update without immediately locking out players who have already updated Minecraft. ViaVersion does not add the blocks, items, or gameplay features from the newer version to your server. It only makes the newer client compatible with the older server.
ViaVersion only handles newer clients joining older servers. If you also want players using older clients to join a newer server, you will need an additional plugin such as ViaBackwards. Either way, ViaVersion is a great plugin for reducing disruption when Minecraft updates.
Chunky
Generating new chunks is one of the most demanding things a Minecraft server does. When several players explore in different directions at the same time, the server must generate all of those chunks while continuing to run everything else. This can cause lag, especially on a new server.
Chunky lets you pre-generate chunks before players explore them. You can select the center and radius of the area you want to generate, start the task, and monitor its progress, completion percentage, processing rate, and estimated time remaining.
Pre-generating your world will use server resources while Chunky is running. For that reason, it is best to use the plugin before opening a new world to players or during a period when fewer people are online. Once the chunks are generated, players can explore that area without forcing the server to create every chunk for the first time.
EconomyShopGUI
If your Minecraft server has an economy, players need a convenient way to buy and sell items. EconomyShopGUI adds a graphical server shop that players can open with commands. Instead of remembering prices or using rows of physical signs, players can browse shop categories and click the items they want to trade.
You can customize the items, categories, prices, shop pages, messages, and layout to match your server. Shops and items can also be managed in-game, which makes it easier to make changes without manually editing every part of the configuration.
EconomyShopGUI supports buying and selling, permission-based discounts and sell multipliers, multiple economy providers, multiple currencies, NPC shops, and other advanced features. For a survival or economy server, it provides the modern shop experience most players expect.
Simple Voice Chat
Simple Voice Chat adds voice chat directly to Minecraft. Its main feature is proximity chat, which means players get louder as you move closer to them and quieter as you move farther away. This makes talking feel like part of the game instead of requiring everyone to stay in the same Discord channel.
The plugin is useful for survival servers, roleplay servers, events, and any community where players regularly work together. Simple Voice Chat also supports groups for players who want to keep talking when they are not standing near each other.
While the server can run Simple Voice Chat as a plugin, players must install the matching Simple Voice Chat mod on their clients to use its voice features. You may also need to configure a separate UDP port, so make sure your server host supports the required setup before installing it.
mcMMO
mcMMO adds RPG-style skills and progression to Minecraft. Players gain experience by completing normal activities such as mining, fishing, woodcutting, excavating, repairing, and fighting. As they level up, they unlock abilities and bonuses related to those skills.
This gives players something to continue working toward even after they have good equipment and a completed base. mcMMO also includes leaderboards and a party system, giving players more ways to compete and work together.
One of the best things about mcMMO is that it expands Minecraft's progression without completely replacing the survival experience. Players still mine, build, farm, and explore as normal. They are simply rewarded with additional progress while doing it.
We also have a step-by-step guide on how to install mcMMO on a Minecraft server if you need help getting started.
Minepacks
Inventory space disappears quickly in Minecraft, especially when players are mining, exploring, or gathering resources for a large build. Minepacks adds personal backpacks that players can open to store additional items without carrying around physical shulker boxes.
Backpack sizes can be controlled with permissions. This allows you to give every player a basic backpack while offering larger sizes through ranks, rewards, or other progression systems. Minepacks also supports item filters, optional automatic item collection when a player's inventory is full, and shortcut items for faster access.
For larger servers, Minepacks supports multiple storage methods, including SQLite and MySQL. No matter how you configure it, this is a simple quality-of-life plugin that gives players more space without changing the rest of the game.
SeeMore
SeeMore is a performance plugin with one specific purpose. It adjusts each player's server-side view distance based on the render distance they have selected in their Minecraft client.
Without SeeMore, your server may send and keep chunks loaded based on its configured view distance even when a player has selected a much lower render distance. Those additional chunks use server resources without giving that player any benefit. SeeMore lowers the server-side distance for that player, reducing the number of unnecessary chunks being loaded.
This is not a complete fix for every type of server lag. However, it can make chunk loading more efficient, especially when different players use very different render distances. If you run a Paper server and want to avoid loading chunks players cannot see, SeeMore is worth considering.
LifeStealZ
If you want to create a LifeSteal SMP, LifeStealZ adds the complete gameplay system to a Spigot, Paper, or Purpur server. When one player kills another, the winner steals a heart from the player who died. If a player loses all of their hearts, they are eliminated from the server.
Players can craft additional hearts, withdraw hearts into items, and create revive items that bring eliminated players back. These mechanics give every fight real consequences and create a much more competitive survival experience.
LifeStealZ is also highly customizable. You can adjust starting and maximum hearts, crafting recipes, custom items, messages, and other parts of the plugin. It also includes administrative commands that let you manage player hearts, eliminate players, and revive them when needed.
